Harvard Transfers Enslaved Descendant Identification Program To American Ancestors

Harvard transferred its enslavement identification program to American Ancestors, the group leading the 10 Million Names project.

On Thursday, Jan. 23, Harvard University transferred the research component of its Slavery Remembrance Program (HSRP) to American Ancestors, a third-party partner that has helped the university conduct genealogical research related to identifying descendants of enslaved people of the university’s founders, since it began work on that project in 2022, and also fired every member of HSRP’s research staff.

The HSRP is part of a $100 million endowment for the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery initiative, and is responsible for identifying the descendants of individuals enslaved by the university’s founders as well as descendants of enslaved individuals who labored on Harvard’s campus.

According to the Harvard Crimson, the university transferred the work of identifying descendants of individuals enslaved by its founders to a New England non-profit organization, American Ancestors, best known for its 10 Million Names project and an external research partner of the university.

The move, as the Crimson reports, was not accompanied by any advance warning or discussion of any potential layoffs, according to HSRP Director Richard J. Cellini and research fellow Wayne J. Tucker.

One week prior to their firing, Cellini and his team met with the prime minister and governor general of Antigua and Barbuda for the purposes of potentially establishing a research presence there.

The HSRP had discovered that there were several hundred people enslaved by individuals associated with Harvard founders in the country between 1660 and 1885.

According to a previous investigation by the Crimson, in September 2024, Cellini alleged that Harvard’s Vice Provost for Special Projects Sara N. Bleich, instructed him and the HSRP “not to find too many descendants.”

“I have told officials at the highest level of the University that they only have two options: fire me, or let the HSRP do this work properly,” Cellini told the student-run newspaper.

Four months later, Cellini believes he got his answer. “Today Harvard fired me,” he texted the Crimson. “So now we know.”

In a press release, Harvard confirmed the expansion of American Ancestors’ involvement with the university and also personally praised Cellini.

“Richard Cellini’s superb efforts launched us on our way on this historically important mission, and now it is time for American Ancestors to take the lead in what will be a systematic, scholarly sustained effort to establish the facts about this dark chapter in our university’s history, and begin the long journey of healing,” Henry Louis Gates Jr., a member of the Legacy of Slavery initiative advisory council and a member of the advisory board for 10 Million Names, said in the press release. “We are indebted to Richard for his early guidance and his ambitious leadership.”

He continued, “Thanks to the extensive work they have already done on the genealogies of enslaved people, American Ancestors brings an exceptional ability to scale the enormous effort the university has ahead of it.”

Gates concluded, “The University takes seriously the thoughtfulness and care that will go into engaging with living direct descendants, and that engagement will be based around rigorous and thorough research this partnership will advance in literally rebuilding family histories.”

Ryan J. Woods, the President and CEO of American Ancestors, said “in this expanded role, American Ancestors is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of professional genealogical research to uncover the identities of individuals enslaved by Harvard leadership, faculty, or staff, and to document their descendants.”